Facebook reaction - News sites promoting their own apps which aren't needed.

The removal of news from Facebook has prompted a number of news media outlets to start promoting their own apps. It should be kept in mind you don't need to install an app to use these sites. Both News.com.au and ABC News are promoting their apps when people visit their websites.

There's no need for another app that may or may not be tracking your movements. You can simply bookmark the sites and visit the sites when you want. No app required. 

Whilst there's a big outcry with Facebook removing news content there is a bright side. If there's no news sites that means all news on Facebook can treated with suspicion. Right now people are getting tricked because they often can't tell the difference between real news, self promotion and scams. Now all articles can be treated the same and if you want to check the facts on something that interests you, you can visit a news site.

Kelvin Eldridge

Has removing signage in NSW for mobile speed cameras really made that much difference?

There has been quite a bit written in the press since the mobile speed cameras' signage has been removed in NSW, but the real question is, has it really made that much difference?

Whilst the press highlights the removal of mobile speed camera signage as the main point, there's two other points that are probably making most of the increase in speeding fines.

First the NSW's government has increased the number of hours for mobile speed cameras from 7,000 hours a  year to 21,000 hours a year. An increase by a factor of three.

Secondly, by removing the requirement for an mobile speed camera operator to place signage before and after the mobile speed camera car (which means the cameras only cover one side of the road), mobile speed cameras can now cover both sides of the road by doing nothing extra. That's an increase by a factor of two byt covering both sides of the road.

In total we have an increase in coverage based on increased hours and increasing coverage to cover both sides of the road, giving us an increase by a factor of six.

So how does that compare with the increase the government has seen in revenue?

Based on the figures released for December 2020, there's been a large increase to $2.5 million from $400,000 for the same period last year. Now if we increase $400,000 by a factor of six we end up with $2.4 million, or roughly what we'd expect to see based in increase coverage and increased hours. Overally the loss of signage appears to have made little difference.

Speeding fines in NSW skyrocket after warning signs for cameras removed (9news.com.au)

The reality is if you're not speeding your won't get booked. If you're observant whilst driving, the mobile speed camera cars generally stand out. They're generally parked in ways most people don't park, on a naturestip by themselves. Some do park in lanes on the road where there's parking, but most appear to park out of the way of traffic on naturestrips or kerbs. An observant driver will make sure they're not speeding. 

For me the one concerning piece of information is the NSW government stated the change will reduce the death toll by 34-43 a year. That means if increasing mobile speed camera coverage by a factor of six reduces the detoll by 34-43 a year, if we take one sixth (the current coverage) mobile speed cameras currently possibly make a difference of 5 - 7 deaths a year and fgiven the size of the death toll, that's quite a low impact in terms of saving lives on our roads given the size of the revenue being raised and speed to enforce speed limits. I can't help feeling a better way would be to provide every driver with a device that alerts them to when they're speeding. I know using Waze or AmiGo certainly helps me drive within the speed limit.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au

Melbourne Metrolpolitan Trains Lilydale line, buses replacing trains from Ringwood to Lilydale 9/2/21-19/2/21

There was a notice at the Mitcham train station today notifying passengers buses will replace trains between Ringwood Station and Lilydale station from the 9th of February to the 19th of February 2021.

With the new overhead bridges being built at Lilydale Station and Mooroolbark Station there's going to be some big channges. I decided to video the Ringwood to Lilydale section of the Lilydale line today and you can find the video at https://youtu.be/KmxXmnF9qqA. I've also taken a video from Lilydale to the city and return to Mitcham which I'll make available in the near future.

My aim is to link the videos into my Mapz site (www.Mapz.com.au/nearesttrainstation/) so people can easily get additional information on the train stations around them.

Kelvin Eldridge

Efficacy of the Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford/AstraZeneca and Noravax.

I thought I'd link to the following article as it details the efficacy of the three vaccines currently considered for Australia.

Efficacy of the Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford/AstraZeneca and Noravax

Kelvin Eldridge

Wasted time using PetrolSpy to get cheaper petrol.

The other day I worked out using PetrolSpy I was going past a cheaper petrol station and could save around 30 cents per litre. The detour was minimal so well worth the effort. Here's what PetrolSpy displayed.

However when I got to the 7 Eleven petrol station this is what I saw.

"Shop still open, fuel upgrade underway". As they say, "not happy Jan".

With PetrolSpy I've found a number of times the low priced petrol listed isn't correct so I like to have a second source to crosscheck the price. For example using the 7 Eleven Fuel app or the Woolworths Fuel app.

What was interesting is when I later checked the 7 Eleven website I found 7 Eleven had not updated the price of petrol for nearly two weeks. 

So 7 Eleven was feeding bad information to the PetrolSpy app and since the PetrolSpy app was updating the information regularly was just putting when PetrolSpy updated the information (in this case about an hour ago). So PetrolSpy gave the impression the price had recently been submitted making it more credible, whereas the information posted by PetrolSpy was recent, the information was nearly two weeks old. PetrolSpy should be vetting the data they receive more carefully.

One of the problems obtaining cheap petrol is the apps are only as good as the information provided. Sometimes the apps receive poor information from the petrol companies (such as this case), sometimes the apps are slow at getting the latest information (I've seen this at a Woolworths Petrol station where the price was lower than PetrolSpy and Woolworths own app) and my biggest concern is users providing misleading information either in error (E10 being listed as unleaded) or for some agenda that I'm not aware of. To get around these situations I usually find it best to have a couple of options. In this case I went a Woolworths Petrol station further along my route and saved around $9-$10. This doesn't seem like a lot of money for the effort, but I'm happy to save money when I can, as long as I don't waste money (fuel and other costs) doing so.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolCostCalculator.com.au

Maroondah Highway, Lilydale, red light camera/speed camera speed limit reduced from 50 km/h to 40 km/h

For those travelling on the Maroondah Highway through Lilydale it appears the speed limit has been changed from 50 km/h to 40 km/h due to the works on the railway line. This was reported in the HeraldSun (access to subscribers only) and I also found a Facebook post reporting the same information.

I decided to take a trip to Lilydale and took a picture of the 40 km/h sign. I saw one sign indicating the change of speed limit was related to the railway line works.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au